Tuesday, 13 August 2013

One Armed Woodworker -Tim Lee

From a one armed turner to a one armed woodworker Tim Lee's story was presented back in 2004 through Canadian Woodworking I tried to email the author but email bounced back.

I recall a movie when a kid, a movie about three USA WWII returned vets " The Best Years Of Our Lives" . They met during their return and bonded in ways. The naval guy had lost both his hands and had prosthetic attached it was he who worked in his shed. Each suffered what we now call PTSD interesting to see how long we have known of this type of stress on service men and woman.

When
people enter Tim Lee's townhouse in Milton, Ontario, they immediately
notice a beautiful cherry-wood table displayed in the family room. It's
carefully polished and clearly stands out as the showpiece of the home.
Lee is proud to show the table to his guests, because it's a piece that
he made himself. The 37-year-old husband and father of three says, "When
I finished it, I was really amazed. I still look at it sometimes and
think, 'wow, what an accomplishment.'" Lee never imagined that he would
be able to make such a stunning piece of furniture. Before starting, he
knew fine woodworking would be a difficult challenge, and even more of a
challenge for him. Lee has had to learn the craft of woodworking with
only one arm.
It sounds like mission impossible, but this Milton tow truck driver has
lived with a disability his whole life. Challenges come with the
territory. Lee says, "You don't know what you can do until you try it."
Equipped with this stellar attitude, Lee has taken on the many
challenges of woodworking as they've come along.
He took his first crack at woodworking after many visits to his
father-in-law's home. "He's always working with a piece of wood," says
Lee. "One day I said 'give me a piece of that and let me try
something.'" After making a few picture frames and such, he wanted to
take a step further and build a wall unit.
Once Lee discovered that he enjoyed working with wood, he immediately
wanted to learn the proper skills to make furniture. His first challenge
was to find an instructor that would take him on. Once people learned
of his disability, they came up with reasons why they couldn't instruct
him. "It's not that people are being rude," says Lee. The attitude is
more like 'Gosh... I'd like to help you, but I can't.'

Fortunately, someone was willing to
help Lee turn his interest in wood into a full-fledged hobby. His name
is Hendrik Varju, owner of Passion For Wood in Acton, ON (and
contributing editor to Canadian Woodworking Magazine). When he heard
Lee's story, he agreed to take on the eager student.
Still, working with a prosthetic, rather than a hand, was no easy task.
Varju and Lee had to come up with techniques for working with the
machines. For instance, when running the lumber through the jointer, the
proper technique is to push the lumber through and over the cutterhead,
keeping the lumber moving with your hand. Instead, Lee holds a push pad
with the prosthetic to move the lumber through. Another challenge was
using the handplane, which is technically a two-handed procedure. Lee
says, "I have to hold it with my right hand and apply pressure with my
prosthetic."

Varju says fine woodworking can be
intimidating for any beginner. Even if people have worked with wood in
the past, there is a definite learning curve. The willingness to learn
is the most essential tool. Varju says, "Lee doesn't come to the table
assuming he knows everything. He's open to learning. That's how
every student should start."
Now, only two years since he started woodworking, Lee has already built
his own workshop in his garage. He has equipped it with a table saw,
drill press, jointer, planer, router, router table, and all kinds of
other tools. He is currently working on a cherry wood TV stand and has a
lot more projects planned. Since he has started to pursue his interest
in woodworking, he has let nothing get in his way of becoming a better
woodworker.

1 comment:

I also had an artificial arm, but I am not using it anymore due to a mole that was removed from my back - it formed a keloid. The straps overlaps the wound and irritates it.

However, I have a story - I was not very popular. During my senior/final year in school we had to build a telephone table from kiaat and yellow wood - bench on the left side and table with drawer on the wright hand side.

I was way ahead with my project in relation with the other students. I decided to assist my friend with the surfacer. In my haste the hook that was the trailing hand slipped from the piece of wood and hit the blades - needless to say blades vs. stainless steel - stainless steel wins and everyone fell more behind with there projects except me.